Military personnel will be supporting NHS staff at the clinic which is operated by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust offering a first, second or booster dose to people who are able to simply walk into the Cathedral from Wednesday 15th until Tuesday 21st December.The Very Revd Dr Tim Stratford, Dean of Chester Cathedral said:“One year ago, we found ourselves closing the Cathedral doors as England went into lockdown. As we re-opened in April of this year, we were pleased to assist Cheshire fight the pandemic by hosting a testing centre for Cestrians, and now, at our busiest time of year, we are delighted to help our community once again by hosting this pop-up vaccination clinic at the heart of the city.”Clare Watson, Accountable Officer of NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:“We are absolutely delighted to have secured the support of military personnel for a week-long pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Chester Cathedral.“
Domenica Pecoraro and Canon Gareth Jones have been appointed as the Church's first National Representatives for Community Sponsorship.They will work with a steering group chaired by the Bishop of Bradwell, Dr John Perumbalath, who also chairs the inter-denominational Churches' Refugee Network, and supported by staff from Church of England’s national Mission and Public Affairs team.This initiative will build on the positive work since the 2015 General Synod which agreed a motion urging “parishes and dioceses to work closely with local authorities and other community partners, to provide practical and sustainable resources and structures for the resettlement of vulnerable refugees and to pray for all those seeking to address the causes as well as the symptoms of this crisis”. Since then dozens of parishes have taken part in community sponsorship and welcoming families from Syria with at least 20 serving as lead sponsor.Canon Gareth Jones (pictured left) said: "I’m looking forward to taking up this role working alongside colleagues across the Church of England as we seek to make a difference in the lives of some of the worlds most vulnerable people. "Christ taught us to love neighbour as self. In putting this into practice through refugee resettlement, we find the stranger among us is in fact our sister and brother and that our lives are intrinsically bound with theirs."Domenica Pecoraro (pictured right) said: "With Community Sponsorship, I have witnessed first-hand the transformative beauty of welcoming."My hope is to help as many people as possible find safety in the UK through Community Sponsorship, and at the same time, help our parishes, our agents of Love and Grace, to experience and be renewed by these encounters." Bishop John said: “The recent events in Afghanistan have challenged the churches to increase their support for refugees.“This follows from our commitment rooted in the belief of the dignity of all human beings who are created equal in the image of God. “Churches need to build on the work they are already doing, especially in the area of community sponsorship. “Our National Representatives will be available to our dioceses and parishes across the nation for advice and guidance on community sponsorship.”The new national representatives and steering group are tasked with working collectively to support churches working with refugees, to expand on the work achieved since 2015 and to work collaboratively with partners across the Church and society.
‘Thank you for the music’ sing Abba. Numerous people have told me how much they missed congregational singing during the pandemic. St Augustine was spot on when he wrote, ‘he who sings, prays twice’. Advent is my favourite season for praying twice. Its hauntingly beautiful melodies generate within me anticipation, expectation, hope, longing, stillness. The carol O Come, O Come Emmanuel is the best advent calendar ever. Each verse opens a window into a different perspective of the coming Messiah, from the prophesies of Isaiah, Zechariah and Haggai. They form the medieval ‘O antiphons’ which we celebrate on the days leading up to Christmas: O Wisdom (17th December); O Adonai (18th); O Root of Jesse (19th); O Key of David (20th); O Dayspring (21st); O King of the Nations (22nd); O Emmanuel (23rd). ‘Thank you for the music’. Indeed. I was ordained by a bishop who claimed to be tone deaf. One of my jobs as a curate was to stand at his side and intone bits of the service for him. How I’ve gone up in the world. My current boss is, I think, the first bishop to have written a musical setting for the mass since the Reformation. It was a gift to be in Guildford Cathedral for the premiere on the Sunday before Advent - in a year when bishop and cathedral share a significant birthday. The gift is given (free of charge) to any churches in our diocese that would appreciate scores (just email Judy at Willow Grange). No spoilers – but I particularly loved the Sanctus which gave me a picture of the holiness of God as the refiner’s fire and the hosannas shooting out like embers into a cold and dark sky – an appropriate vision for Advent. From Morning Prayer today: ‘the Lord will save me, and we will sing to stringed instruments [I’m sure brass, woodwind, electronic and others are allowed too!] all the days of our lives’. (Isaiah 38:20). Allow the gift of Advent music to prepare your hearts to sing this Christmas, for the Lord will come to save us.Archdeacon Paul
